For the Russellville Lady Cyclone volleyball team and head coach Cindy Jones, the excitement of their state championship win over the Greenwood Lady Bulldogs has yet to wear off.

“I’m still very excited about the win,” Jones said. “Believe it or not, I’m still very excited.”

It started with a send-off on Saturday. The community came together and showed the girls that they were behind them by gathering along the roads and standing outside businesses as the busy carrying the championship team rolled out of town with a police escort.

“We had people on street corners,” Jones said. “The sheriffs car was leading us. That was one of the best parts of my entire career. The kids loved it. Our principal and so many kids were out there and they did it every day of the tournament.”

“On Saturday, they knew our route so there were several businesses on the way that were out. A bunch of people on the freeway waiting and cheering for us. Everyone had to pull over because we had the police escort, so that was pretty neat.”

Assistant head coach Christina Wilburs, along with the booster club, played a big role getting the send-off together and setting the stage for the state championship win.

“It’s just been a great experience,” Jones said. “The community, the parents and the booster club have made it such a fun experience. The kids and I really, really appreciate it.”

The excitement, of course, hit its peak when Greenwood bounced the ball off the net on the final point and gave the game to the Lady Cyclones.

“Everyone went crazy,” she said. “We’ve got so many more cameras now days so it was just pictures, pictures, pictures after that.”

Russellville carried confidence into the game — the sort of confidence that can only come to those who have been there and back. Against Mountain Home in the semi-finals, the Lady Cyclones were down two games and were only 25 points from being sent back to Russellville empty handed.

“When you’re down two games like we were Thursday and you come back to win it,” Jones said. “It puts everything in perspective for you. It gave us a lot of confidence going in against Greenwood.”

Confidence led to focus and focus lead to the championship.

“I think the kids knew they were going to win,” Jones explained. “The entire day it was very laid back. They weren’t tight. They seemed to have a good time and enjoy the day.”

Greenwood isn’t a team to be taken lightly, either. The Lady Bulldogs have played in five of the last six 5A state championships, taking home the trophy last year. And now, during their first year in the 6A, they managed to make it to the championship game yet again. This time against bigger and tougher opponents. That’s a considerable accomplishment.

“I had parents tell me that from the first five minutes you could tell that they [Russellville] were going to win the game,” Jones said. “They knew they were going to do whatever it took to win, regardless. I think that’s what they did. They just refused to lose.”

The entire team stepped up to the challenge, but three players in particular were acknowledged for their performance in the tournament. Sophomore Hunter Eshnaur was award the MVP award and Juniors Diana Hale and Ashtin Kendrick won All-tournament awards.

“Hunter didn’t have her best game in the championship,” Jones said.

“But throughout the tournament she was solid and consistent. She was serving, hitting and passing. She was solid everywhere.”

Jones said that Hale and Kindrick were also solid throughout the tournament.

“Those girls carried us throughout the whole tournament. They came up with blocks out of the blue that saved us and prevented a rally. Ashtin is one of the most vocal leaders I’ve ever had.

If she’s on the floor, she’s cheering. If she’s on the bench, she’s cheering. I’m really glad to have them back next year.”

With the season in the record books, it’s not too early to begin look forward to next season.

The Lady Cyclones will lose five seniors — which for many teams is a sizable hole to fill. Jones said that Russellville’s talent is deep and she is not concerned about their future.

“We’ve got a lot of kids that played junior varsity this year that could have played varsity for other teams,” she said.

“We’ve got ninth-graders that I think will be able to, at some point, step into those roles.

I hate to lose those seniors, they provided a lot of leadership, but we should have the people available to step up.”

Even as the defending state champions, Jones said there is still room for improvement. Champions, it seems, are never satisfied.

“I want to do a little better in conference this year,” she said. “I think we saw we could play with those 7A schools more than we thought we could. I’m hoping next year to win many of those games.”